Review: Dating Like Airplanes

Dear Readers, please note, I received this book free of charge from Caleb Breakey in exchange for this review. Also, Caleb is one of the few authors who actually signs his review copies personally, which makes them a real treat to receive. 

In August 2013, author Caleb Breakey contacted me regarding his first book, Called to Stay, an excellent work about millennials and the church. I kind of loved it. Caleb was able to voice the concerns of the up-and-coming generation of church leadership and then calm that voice with exhortations to love. Acknowledging the great irony that millennials judge their elders for being judgmental, Caleb was able to find a wonderful balance between critique and compassion. I truly loved that book. 

Caleb continued his writing career earlier this month with his sophomore outing, Dating Like Airplanes. The book covers dating from a Christ-centered perspective that calls its readers to engage in a new form of ever-mindful, constantly-vigilant romance. If the current keyword of evangelical leaders is "radical", Caleb Breakey's latest work fits the bill. 

From Ruin to Recovery, and the Ministry Beyond...

I was struck with a very encouraging realization recently.

My prayers have been answered. Literally.

For those of you who have followed this blog for any amount of time, you know that I followed the Lord's leading in December 2010 to do two things: First, return to my home state of Delaware; second, write a novel. The process of doing these two things I have not shared in full on the blog as of yet, and I am unsure I ever will. To make a long story short, I did the first in August of 2012 and completed the second in May 2013. Since that time I have felt like my life was in a holding pattern while waiting to make my next move.

Nostalgia Rules! A Lego Story

In light of the blizzard that has struck the northeast, I am re-printing this story (slightly edited) from my old "Stunk's Stage" blog (as briefly explored here). This is a great, innocent tale, and I never tire of telling it or reading it. I thank God for memories like this one.

I have to be honest; I'm somewhat shocked at the tone I was able to encapsulate in this 2007 re-telling, as if I had channeled my most sincere childlike voice to relay a picture from my past. I kind of wish I still had that voice from time to time. Perhaps, again, I will find it.

For Lego fans or simply those who like a good ol' time, this piece may be worth a little read while the snow's still thawing in the Wilms, Dee (and surrounding states).

Recovery Resource Review: Follow the Solid Rock Road!

Though I am still learning my way around Twitter, I have discovered that a little bit of honesty and courage when reaching out to others can be the starting point for real connection and not simply "following". One such connection I have made is with Jerry Pineda, on whose account I stumbled late last year. Jerry and his wife Jamee are involved with drug and alcohol recovery ministry in which they use a self-developed curriculum (co-authored by Sherry Colby) entitled, "Follow the Solid Rock Road".

Interview: Stronghold, Faith, and Recovery.

I had the great blessing recently of speaking with Jeff Fisher, a wonderful Christian brother who was willing to read Stronghold and later interview me about it for his ministry's audio resource, "The 104 Podcast: Top Tips to Sexual Purity."

An Old Blog...Revisited.

Finding your old writings can be scary, especially if you are me. Last night I spent three hours crawling through old blog post from the site I ran from 2007 - 2009, and I was shocked by what I found--not due to how badly I wrote or silly I seemed but, rather, due to the similarity of my syntax and tone then and now.

This makes me wonder, "have I grown as a writer? Have I grown as a person?" 

Looking Toward 2014

The times they are a-changing. Literally. 2013 has passed, and 2014 lays before us. I began the year in a cold-induced stupor, too tired to begin anything new or continue working on my many pending projects. Fact is, 2013 really took it out of me. Perhaps it was the new job in the big city or the release of Stronghold. Maybe it was the fact that I'm getting older or I carry a certain listlessness over my place in life. For whatever reason, I left last year feeling lower than I might've thought and dreading the work ahead of me in 2014. I'm not proud of this outlook, but it is the truth. Those who have been following the blog for any amount of time know that such an attitude is not the norm for me. 

Something is amiss.